Jul 13
23
Free Range Farming
Free Range Eggs – Helen and David shot for purpose.
Further to receiving a brief (in the middle of winter whilst there was snow on the ground) requiring a shot depicting a middle of summer ‘look’ I had a little apprehension about the possibility especially regarding the brief requiring ‘mountains in the background’ being green, the fields grassy, and a bright sunny sky…
After further discussion it was decided that the mountains being ‘green’ might be an ask too far and the agency decided to retouch this if required.
After scrutinising the weather forecast a time was set for the shoot and it was done.
Free Range Farming
On the day, the sun did shine but the shoot was additionally lit in abundance to even include contrast reduction and brightness increase in foreground grass (after removing all the dead leaves). Getting the lighting balance correct was a challenge – especially when the forecast bright sun was being constantly covered by fast travelling cloud requiring continual remote light adjustments to accommodate the brightness and contrast shifts.
The shoot was for a Free Range supplier POS banner, intended for a supermarket so needed to fit a specific format with specific type requirements. The brief had a convenient mound in front of the subjects making the foreground a useful place for type.. mounds never exists like this in real life so a location was found on a hillside and I lay down.
Cue Hens stage left…
Lying down in a field is never a problem. Especially a field in the middle of summer with a nice warm sun beating down on me, but this wasn’t summer and the hens – being inquisitive as they are – took delight in pecking my head, to the great amusement of Helen and David. If ever there was a requirement for a safety helmet, I can honestly say that this would have most justified their existence.
The photograph above is an outtake from the shoot I particularly like. It includes some hens – where the brief was to particularly exclude them. Since the hens were particularly persistent in appearing, I’ve given in to them here.
Jul 13
15
Offshore Energy and Engineering
A few shots from a recent project to provide images for brochures and other marketing materials. Unlike most requests of this nature photographing work in progress turned out to be a test in finding ‘work in progress’ – at the time there was very little around.
Undaunted, and deadlines looming we found some, or probably more correctly – we created some.
Warehousing and material handling
Testing paint thickness coating
Offshore Pipework
Offshore Pipe Inspection
Once production gets into full swing and opportunities present themselves I’m sure there’ll be more.
Jul 13
14
Widgetising Photography
I’ve never thought about photography having a specification, but I suppose if you need some measure of completion or attainment then an initial specification must be required. How do you provide a specification before an original is created?
A client asked the question as part of an order process so I answered in the way I understand best, which is the way that it normally works. If you’re involved with buying products, I’m sure they all have specifications, it would be important to these to ensure that each prduct was the same as the previous but what about photography and when do you know that it’s reached specification?
I suppose photography is a customised product and the customer pays for that experience and creativity package where all circumstances are catered for, taken into consideration and the work produced. The end product is created where no two are ever the same which might just have been the easy answer?
Anyway, here’s what I thought the answer should be, which was maybe far from fitting any specification:
I suppose, if I supplied widgets I could easily provide a data sheet on those as they would all be the same, but normally I work in many varied environments which on the surface are pretty mundane and pretty unexciting places. I’m normally tasked by clients to make them look good when they don’t really know how to explain what they want and neither how they want it to look. By seeing the opportunities available and leaving out the mundane I envisage how the finished result could look and then make it happen… I could quite happily work for a month at an installation churning out eyecatching images of mundane processes where you would never ever imagine any excitement or interest could ever exist. Unfortunately, I have to do the best of all that in a day or two, so I try to pick the situations which will most utilize the time and maximize the benefit for the client. The results are those you see on the website.
I don’t know if that entirely fitted with the idea of a specification, but it was interesting to try, and perhaps similar to asking Leonardo da Vinci for a description on how might his portrait of the Mona Lisa might be specified before even the canvas was primed?
Jul 13
14
Oil separation from water
Oil separator tanks on Flota Oil Terminal
Details to follow